Spiderman, Spiderman, Does Whatever a Movie Can

Have you been yet? Have you seen it? There aren't that many movies I'm looking forward to this summer--outside of Harry Potter and The Bourne Ultimatum--but for this one I had my tickets ready on opening day.

I'm talking of course about Spiderman 3, the sequel to--um--Spiderman 2 and--uh--Spiderman 1. Having enjoyed the first two movies I was hopped up to see the latest installment and neither Andrew or I were disappointed.

I'd heard a few negative things from the critics: that the plot was fragmented, that it was too long and I can see why they'd say that but regardless I liked it. I've already established why Spiderman is so much cooler than other superheroes and the movies follow the same formula, Spiderman is likable because he's an everyman.

Toby McGuire isn't a plastic-looking hunky statue but a common-looking nearly-nerd that spends most of his screen time with his eyes wide open in puzzled disbelief. Well, except for scenes where he's blessed with an extraordinary amount of eyeliner and bad lighting (have to see it to see what I mean).

Spiderman's bad guys are also sympathetic characters--I can't help but feel sorry for poor Doctor Octopus. I mean if you'd had giant artificial-intelligence-filled-mechanical arms attach themselves to your spinal column and had inadvertently killed the woman you love in a fit of mad-scientist-crazed rage wouldn't you be an emotional mess? Or gosh, look at poor Sandman--a common petty crook (and not even a very successful petty crook at that) who is just misunderstood and trying to save his poor dying daughter. If, while running from law enforcement's attempts to send you back to prison late one night, you inadvertently stepped into an unguarded molecular transmogrifier run by supermodel nuclear physicists and had your molecules rearranged I'd be shedding plenty of tears for your pitiable circumstances.

I feel sorry for The Sandman and Venom and The Hobgoblin. Heck, I even felt some compassion towards J. Jonah Jameson--for one brief second. Even the women in Spidey's life are sweet and lovable. How could Peter possibly choose between Gwen Stacy's brains, Betty Brant's cheek or M.J.'s style? No wonder he's sticking with Aunt May because which could choose? Even Ursula Ditkovitch, the landlord's daughter, is a cutie (who happens to completely remind me of my sweet sister-in-law Becca--no lie, the spittin' image and just as sweet).

But I'm rambling. The bottom line is, the movie is long but it's not too long. There are scenes in the middle that are so painfully embarrassing for our poor hero that I had to watch them through my fingers, but that's not the same thing. The plot is somewhat fragmented, but then that's because you've got several really cool villains that have to be introduced. Let me emphasize that, they're really cool.

The battle/fight sequence at the end (and I'm not giving anything away here--you knew there would be one right?) is better than anything in the previous two and the way things evolve at the end between the characters and plot pieces is great. Loved it. And my boys will be gratified to know that their expertise in Spiderman's history paid off because they called the plot exactly. Well done boys.

Now the question is: can you spot Stan Lee's (the creator of Spiderman) cameo?

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